https://pokepast.es/c5e4e26d9ea51fb1
HO HO HO?
YO-HO-HO?
Seasonal cheer and piracy are cool, but get the hyphens straight. We’re talking about…
ANTI-HO HO
(anti-hyper-offense hyper-offense)
==========================
The ladder is somehow even more plagued with offensive teams than it was previously. It's a great time to run a team that stomps opposing offense. Here's a build that does just that. This is some good old-fashioned screens + set-up spam, using a bunch of pokemon that foil opposing efforts to do the same. (Because everything is so powerful, it also just happens to punch through fat stuff...which is the Gen 9 experience). The general gameplan is to set screens and then spam setup until you win with any of the 5 sweepers. Not too complicated. Screens are pretty boosted because no one uses defog for removal anymore. I don't know if this team is actually good, but it's anti-meta enough that you can get some free wins (same goes for Trick Room). It won a room tour pretty handily. There are a few meme sets that I will note. I urge you to consider using the same nicknames in solidarity of the state of things in this generation.
dont @ my GXE
==========================
Team BuildingAs a general premise when building hyper offense, in particular screens teams, it's key to preserve momentum -- that is, you always want to be pressuring your opponent. It should be VERY BAD for them if you get free turns...i.e. if they don't answer your set-up pokemon THIS TURN, then they lose. Consequently, it's important to have sequences of pokemon on your team that can take advantage of a teammate that was knocked out before it. A basic illustration of this would be your fire type getting knocked-out by the enemy water type, giving you the opportunity to send in your grass-type for a free turn. Good HO teams have multiple version of this "flow" through the team. Hopefully, you can see that principle in the following.
Someone rolled me with screens Roaring Moon. So like any human, I had to take my traumas out on the world. It's been a very strong pokemon throughout this generation, as evidenced by the ban. Screens make it all that much harder to slowdown. Grimmsnarl was the screens setter of choice because it shuts down Deoxys-S noobs.
: Ice, Fighting, Fairy, Steel: These are the types of the common roadbumps to Roaring Moon. Volcarona completely destroys a lot of these would be stops.
Kingambit was not a choice borne out of logic. It's just OP and I knew it would fit on the team.
Maushold was next to add an encore user as a punish to setup and passive play. I was also looking for a multi-hit user, since there was a fair amount of Focus Sash being used. It also happens to complement the rest of the team very well -- physical walls with rocky helmet are usually overwhelmed by the combination of Roaring moon and Kingambit. I would consider the field-cleaning effect of Tidy-Up to be a bonus. This team plays to have initiative, so hazards aren't too bad, outside of webs.
The last slot I played with a couple options, like 
, 
, and even fast offensive 
. I was hoping to patchup issues with setup sweepers, weather, and wanted another multi-hit move so that I didn't have to solely rely on maushold to deal with sash. Then, I recalled the experience of trying to KO an with Earthquake in grassy terrain and figured it would be even harder to kill if it were taking halved damage from ALL types. Archaludon ended up being the perfect fit, doing all these things and more.
Someone rolled me with screens Roaring Moon. So like any human, I had to take my traumas out on the world. It's been a very strong pokemon throughout this generation, as evidenced by the ban. Screens make it all that much harder to slowdown. Grimmsnarl was the screens setter of choice because it shuts down Deoxys-S noobs.: Ice, Fighting, Fairy, Steel: These are the types of the common roadbumps to Roaring Moon. Volcarona completely destroys a lot of these would be stops. Kingambit was not a choice borne out of logic. It's just OP and I knew it would fit on the team. Maushold was next to add an encore user as a punish to setup and passive play. I was also looking for a multi-hit user, since there was a fair amount of Focus Sash being used. It also happens to complement the rest of the team very well -- physical walls with rocky helmet are usually overwhelmed by the combination of Roaring moon and Kingambit. I would consider the field-cleaning effect of Tidy-Up to be a bonus. This team plays to have initiative, so hazards aren't too bad, outside of webs. The last slot I played with a couple options, like , , and even fast offensive . I was hoping to patchup issues with setup sweepers, weather, and wanted another multi-hit move so that I didn't have to solely rely on maushold to deal with sash. Then, I recalled the experience of trying to KO an with Earthquake in grassy terrain and figured it would be even harder to kill if it were taking halved damage from ALL types. Archaludon ended up being the perfect fit, doing all these things and more.Sets
Wait it's all HO? (Grimmsnarl) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Taunt
- Parting Shot
The best screens setter because it has taunt. Really dumpster opposing Dexoys leads. All of the moves are pretty self-explanatory. Remember that parting shot into Magic Bounce forces the opponent to switch out; use this against Hatterene. Tera Steel is almost never used, but it's a nice way to flip your weaknesses. Lead this every game. Keep it alive if you see a Latias. This will commonly bait in opposing Dark types which are immune to Prankster or Steel/Fairy types that hope to KO it. This gives an easy switch and setup opportunity to the rest of the team. Flowchart gameplay ftw. The hazard lead Deoxys sometimes uses Mental Herb, which can be annoying. If the team is deoxys + a bunch of setup, you can be confident it's a screens set and you're free to click Taunt on turn 1.
Always has been (Roaring Moon) @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brick Break
- Dragon Dance
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off
Roaring Moon is the big boy setup sweeper. Also a pretty stock set. Brick Break kills kingambit and stifles opposing screens/veil. Against some teams this will 6-0, but it can also be very valuable to just Knock Off an opposing Rocky Helmet, which opens up a Maushold sweep. Sets up on pretty much all special attackers behind Light Screen. GREAT for making your opponent waste tera on something like Gholdengo. Tera Flying and Acrobatics is the most powerful move this can click that's not outrage. Mayyybe you could use tera steel Iron Head to shore up the fairy problems. Somehow, I played about 20 games with Adamant nature and it didn't seem to matter, but you definitely need Jolly to go faster than Cinderace and Serperior and all the stuff between 330-whatever and 370. +1 Booster Knock Off is always more powerful than you think it will be.
1% of its health! (Archaludon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stamina
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Body Press
- Dragon Tail
- Flash Cannon
My favorite new pokemon of the DLC and probably the MVP. The name is a reference to how much damage it will receive after your foolish opponent clicks Scale Shot. Archaludon is your source of Rocks and an incredible punish to multi-hit moves. It's also responsible for the disappearance of Ogerpon. Rain and Sand teams have real challenges with this dude. Behind screens there's no stopping the Stamina activation. Stamina with Stealth rock and Body Press are what allow it to do all these things. Dragon Tail is an incredible luxury with all the Booster Energy and setup spam going around; a premium move in the meta. Iron Defense would be nice to have, but Flash Cannon is imperative so that you can beat opposing Fairy Types, crucially, things like Tera Fairy Gouging Fire. If they don't tera, say goodbye to the boosts; if they do, then they get bopped! Nothing else can so efficiently force its own phazing like this. I consider Tera Poison, Fairy, or Water as another option, since you rarely Tera this for offensive purposes. All-in-all a potent win condition against teams that lose their special attackers early.
252 Atk Choice Band Great Tusk Headlong Rush vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Archaludon through Reflect: 118-141 (30.7 - 36.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. +1 252 HP / 252+ Def Archaludon: 309-364 (80.4 - 94.7%)
Clickin dat Bomb (Maushold) @ Wide Lens
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Population Bomb
- Tidy Up
- Encore
- Bite
IDK, man, the Maus is OP. It just wins games. Encore is such a crazy punish. I think the most important thing about Maushold is its speed tier. It goes faster than +1 Enamorus, Latias, Moth. Another very stock set -- Tidy Up is insurance vs Webs/Spikes and Tera Dark + Bite smokes Gholdengo. Tera-Dark + Encoring a psychic move is pretty cool. Knock helmets; GG.
+1 0 SpA Latias Aura Sphere vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Maushold through Light Screen: 118-139 (40.8 - 48%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
heatran come at me (Volcarona) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Swarm
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 16 Def / 252 SpA / 240 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
Volcarona is here so that Moonblast or Focus Blast doesn't wipe the whole team. It's a nice buffer vs MONKE and snek as well. Otherwise, this set is mostly for punching holes for the rest of the team to win through. Rather than using no-skill Flame Body, I opted for Modest Swarm + Bug Buzz. It does BIG damage and goes through substitute. Tera Grass and Giga Drain deal with fat water types and don't leave you weak to a Grassy Glide. The nickname is very important here, since you want your opponent to think you have terablast Ground. That will keep out things like Heatran or Skeledirge, or otherwise cause an errant tera, which makes winning easy for the rest of the team. I've had some very funny instant concedes when you bug buzz a tera grass heatran. EVs go faster than Gholdengo and Samurott-H. I guess you could go timid to beat Tusk and Landorus-T, but you have tera grass anyway if that's so critical.
+1 252+ SpA Swarm Volcarona Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 464-548 (90.2 - 106.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Volcarona Bug Buzz vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 162-192 (40 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252+ SpA Volcarona Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Slowking-Galar: 205-243 (52 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
ban tera already (Kingambit) @ Muscle Band
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 112 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Kowtow Cleave / Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Kingambit is OP behind screens, so I opted for a meme set. Congrats on falling for my clickbait. The juice here is Tera Normal Facade. You know all those dumdums that try to paralyze you? Or that goddamn alligator that burns everything? You get to say "You activated my trap card" and then smoke them. Tera Normal may share weaknesses with the base form, but I find people don't really click a fighting move vs gambit until after you've revealed tera because of the terror of clicking wrong vs a Fairy/Flying Tera. Normal-Type Gambit is just a chonker behind screens. Really though, only swords dance + sucker actually matters. Run whatever else you want. Low Kick + Tera Fire, Iron Head for those substitute clicking fairy types, Lum, Chople, etc. Just ban this or ban tera pls. EVs are in the eternal creep war with Corviknight, who's probably not long for the tier anyway. I dumped the rest in SpD, because there was some interesting threshold you get behind screens that you don't with HP investment...I forget. Maybe specs moonblast? Muscle Band over Leftovers because stronk.
A taste of the power:
252+ Atk Muscle Band Supreme Overlord 3 allies fainted Tera Normal Kingambit Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 241-285 (47.8 - 56.5%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Muscle Band Supreme Overlord 3 allies fainted Tera Normal Kingambit Facade (140 BP) vs. +1 252 HP / 88 Def Zamazenta: 403-475 (103.8 - 122.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Muscle Band Supreme Overlord 4 allies fainted Tera Normal Kingambit Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Zapdos: 349-412 (90.8 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Muscle Band Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Tera Normal Kingambit Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Protosynthesis Great Tusk: 429-505 (98.8 - 116.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Muscle Band Supreme Overlord 1 ally fainted Tera Normal Kingambit Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tera [Neutral Damage] Skeledirge: 225-265 (54.6 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Threats
Encore can mess you up and only Volcarona comes in on it. Just sack something to it.
Again, Encore variants can do a number on you if you don't keep Archaludon healthy.
No ground resists and it's pretty free to click draco. Taunt it, get screens, and then setup with volc or sucker punch it. Tera Fairy is the big hurdle. I think I'm just bad at playing against it.
Don't let volcarona die, or else this smokes you. The bulky sets are fine, but on rain, this can be quite frightening to face.
Paralysis Spam: the yellow magic can be challenging if you don't expect it. Have most of it get dumped onto Kingambit or Grimmsnarl.
Sun: can be tricky if you get caught on the back foot. Torkokal is fat enough to put something to sleep and then you can have trouble getting your screens up without giving too much space to one of the dinos.Lol after looking at all this, Terablast Ground
might solve a lot of these problems.I faced one Stall team. I won. idk.
Replays
I only have a single one, from PS room final. It's just OK. You can see Duraludon single-handedly do a number on 'em.
vs
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2016110395
Open to any and all feedback. Many EVs are unoptimized, I know! If you give the team a try, let me know if there are any additional threats or challenges you face!
https://pokepast.es/c5e4e26d9ea51fb1
Last edited:
